Young Justice: Underground
by IFwriter
Summary: A new enemy rises. Their home destroyed. The people they protect turned against them. The team has gone underground to combat a new foe, more dangerous than any other they have faced. But for the first time they are alone, as the odds stack against them, survival look impossible.


_This is my second fanfiction I have written so please be gentle. This story is set in an Alternate Universe, where the light is defeated and a year has passed, the team is made up of the original line up, plus Zatanna, and Cassie Sandsmark the second wonder girl._

_Warning: Character Death will be commonplace._

_Disclaimer: I do not own DC or Young Justice, I wouldn't want to as I like how the series is going._

**Chapter One: Traitor**

Meghan rushed about the kitchen, trying to save as much of the meal as she could, everything that could possibly go wrong had, her stew was burnt, her cake crumbling, and turkey raw. Her cooking had immensely improved over the year she had been with the team, but she was so excited about the entire team being in one place, without it being a mission. She just hoped that the she could still save the anniversary dinner before everyone was here.

Connor was soaked and covered in bubbles, his attempt at giving Wolf a bath had been an epic waste of time. Conner looked like he had almost drowned and the animal was almost perfectly dry. It wasn't his idea though. Meghan had complained about the smell, and said that if he didn't give Wolf a bath, both Wolf and Connor would be sleeping outside the cave, a threat Meghan would be perfectly willing to enforce Connor laughed.

Wally stood facing his enormous opponent, carefully eying it up and down, wary not to make any sudden moves, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. His target, a giant sub sandwich he had put together earlier, he wasn't exactly sure what was on it as he had thrown every edible thing in the kitchen plus some things that might not be fit for human consumption. The sandwich was two feet high and three feet long, and to Wally it was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but he had promised himself he wouldn't cry he thought wiping away an imaginary tear. He picked up his fork and prepared to dig in.

Zatanna sat cross legged on the library floor a beautifully adorned book floated in front of her, her eyes moved back and forth across the page careful not to skip any words, every time she reached the end of the page she would say 'nrut egap' and the page would magically turn. The book had been a gift from her father, and she had read through it multiple times, she quickly wiped away the tears that had formed. She did not want the team to think of her as weak, not after everything it had cost her to join.

Artemis fired volley after volley of arrows at the dummies as they moved across the caves ranged training course, each arrow hitting the dummies in the head. She had been training without pause for the last three days determined not to be a hindrance to her super powered partners. Her defeat during their previous mission had stung her, even though her teammates constantly assured her it wasn't her fault, she would not let herself lose again.

Cassie dodged the laser blast from the repurposed Amazo robot, that was now used for team training, it began to access Flash's powers when she flew into it slamming it at full force knocking the bot back. She was the newest recruit to the team, and split her time between socializing with them, studying the current rogue gallery, and practicing her combat skills. She was trying to find away to prove her value to the team but with no missions she spent most of her time practicing and studying the teams rouge gallery.

No one was in the Mission Room when a Zeta Tube was activated, and a unknownn unknown enemy walked through their home as if he was an invited guest. His mission was simple, he laughed at the lack of security the cave had. None of them could have dreamt that a bomb had been placed in the centre of their home. Before anyone noticed, the bomb was placed and the enemy had left leaving no trace, their routine completely unchanged.

After almost an hour Connor had given up on giving wolf a bath and instead decided to see how Meghan was doing with the cooking. He entered the portal room on his way to the kitchen seconds before the bomb went off.

Batman had taken Robin on a training session around Gotham for the weekend, they had just arrived back from another patrol around the city, Robin quickly ran up stairs to pack his things hoping he wouldn't be late for the anniversary party Meghan had planned, she would never forgive him if he was, he thought chuckling to himself. As he packed, Batman found an urgent alert on the cave computer; it read 'A massive explosion has occurred in the vicinity of Mount Justice.'

Kaldur was driving along the highway on his new bike, a gift from his mentor Aquaman. He was heading home from a trip he had taken to Atlantis over the last few days. He laughed as he realized how he now thought of the Mountain as his home. Less than a year ago, he had suffered home sickness every day he was in the mountain, and now, just a few days in Atlantis he was already missing the team. His reverie was ended as he heard a loud explosion, looking up he saw a giant cloud of dust in the distance.

'No.' He whispered, suddenly speeding down the road to his home.

The smell of burning pervaded the air. It was almost impossible to see more than a foot ahead as dust clouded all vision. Meghan choked as she tried to take in air and rather got a mouthful of dirt. She tried to stand but fell, looking behind her she saw her leg was trapped under a pile of rubble. Her body was pumped full of adrenalin masking the pain, and her mind reeled trying to figure out what had happened. She started crying, her tears mixing with the dirt that covered her face, she was afraid, afraid and confused, the survival instincts in the back of her mind was the only thing that stopped her from being crushed by the ground shattering reality of what has just happened.

Connor couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't see. He looked around but everything was black, he felt an overwhelming pressure and tried to push up, but even with his strength he couldn't lift the tonnes of rubble that crushed him. His brain was in overdrive trying to think but his head hurt so much that he eventually stopped trying.

Zatanna lay on the ground, unmoving her eyes were open but she did not blink. Her chest did not rise and fall and her heart did not pump. A large wooden stake was pierced through her lifeless body.

Flash to did not move his body sprawled across the ground, blood leaking from his head. He appeared all but dead if not for the slow rise and fall of his chest.

Artemis sat up slowly, dazed, everything moved slowly and sounds were a blur. She examined her surroundings as she slowly remembered where she was, mostly unscathed aside from small cuts and bruises; she stood up, almost collapsing her body still shaken from the blast, but quickly adjusted and stood again this time with more success. She quickly decided on the best course of action, to find her friends.

Cassie tried to scream but her mouth was to dry. She felt a pressing weight on top of her and realized she could only see faint slivers of light, she was buried under rubble. Pushing up, the wreckage that covered her fell aside, and standing up she saw that the sparring room was destroyed. The head of the Amazo droid stared up at her from the ground its body missing, looking live a severed head.

Robin did not believe the news when Batman told him, the gruff warrior tried to comfort the boy but even he knew his people skill were lacking. Robin was in denial as if, if he didn't believe it, it wouldn't be true. He sat in the Batplane staring out at the sky, as the plane flew to the proof of that which he wanted to deny.

Kaldur arrived at the destroyed mountain skidding his bike to a halt near the destroyed heap, he starred in horror at the destruction in front of him, the one side of the mountain had collapsed sliding down and smoke rose out. He tried to believe someone could have survived the destruction, but couldn't believe that it was possible.

Meghan had come to her senses at last and used her telekinetic powers to remove the wall that had crushed her leg. She stood up on her one foot and leaned against some fallen rubble to steady herself, rubbing away the dirt and tears on her face she saw a wooden stick which she brought to her and used to help her walk. The kitchen was completely destroyed; most of the roof had collapsed except over the area she had been standing. She tried to form a mind link with any survivors but couldn't, she wasn't sure if it was because she was exhausted or if there was no one alive to hear.

Artemis moved towards the sparring room, she remembered that Cassie had been training there. The halls were filled with dust and some rubble but had not collapsed completely as they were deep underground. As she approached the entrance to the sparring hall, the room was almost directly below the mission room and the roof had collapsed. She almost gasped as she saw Cassie wander out.

Cassie had recovered from the shock but her ears still ringed from the explosion. She stumbled around until regaining her balance. She wasn't injured badly her strength protecting her from most of the injuries a normal person would have received. Walking out the room she almost screamed when she saw the ragged, scratched and dust covered figure of Artemis. Artemis ran towards Cassie and wrapped her arms around her crying. Cassie hugged back. When they let go they looked at each other up and down. They were barely recognizable covered in dust and scratched all over. For a few seconds they just stood not talking, Cassie was the first one to speak.

'Have you seen anyone else?' she asked.

From deep underground Conner was awoken out of his stupor. He heard a familiar voice, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness. The voice was female, he couldn't quite remember who it was, he tried to speak but he couldn't form any words. He had been trapped for almost an hour. Barely any air got in under the wreckage and dust dried his throat. This was the final straw his mind snapped.

Meghan was slowly hobbling out of the now destroyed kitchen, when she grabbed her head and collapsed, she heard screaming and anger, it was Conner. She screamed unable to tune out the mental anguish he was sending out in waves, the mental signals manifested in physical pain. She writhed on the floor for almost five minutes before it died down to a point that she could block it out. She began to hobble towards the source.

Conner was angry, he didn't know at what or why, he couldn't think or reason he was just angry and had to let it out. He tried again to lift the rubble, his futile attempts fuelling his strength. He could feel something inside trying to get out, he focused on that using his rage to unbury it, suddenly his eyes burned and a blast of energy blew out, without stopping. It loosened the rubble and Conner pushed again, this time the wreckage moved, he pushed more and it fell aside and he blasted out of the debris and into the air.

Meghan heard a crashing sound and ran past a broken hallway ignoring the pain in her leg, the rubble was worse here and she could only assume she was nearing the centre of the explosion, she turned a corner and stared ahead, this part of the mountain was completely destroyed rubble and burnt debris lay everywhere, but what froze her in place was the Sight of Conner hovering above it in the air. She dropped her walking stick and flew into a surprised Conner's arms. Her arms wrapped around his chest.

"You're alive!" She sobbed holding him.

He cautiously wrapped his arms around her too. His next words shattering her short lived joy. "Who are you?"

Cassie and Artemis walked through the rubble carefully, just a few minutes before another part of the building had collapsed almost crushing them, now with knowledge that the tunnels were not stable they moved more cautiously. They kept their eyes open searching for any signs of life. They stopped at the entrance to the library.

"You wait here." Artemis commanded the room was unstable, and she thought it would be better if only one person went in. Carefully climbing through the collapsed entrance, Artemis turned towards what used to be the study area, and she gasped. She rushed towards her impaled friend and felt her pulse hoping that she might be alive no matter what the chances were, but she was gone, her arm already felt the cold touch of death. Artemis almost burst into sobs when she realised Cassie was still waiting for her. Cassie called to see if Artemis was alright.

"I'm fine." Artemis responded her voice barely a whisper, when she was younger her father had shown her death, but she couldn't let Cassie see she was still new and innocent. Out of decency Artemis pulled Zatanna off the stake, her hands trembled as she did, but she eventually she laid Zatanna on the ground arms crossed. Artemis than closed her eyes to show her old friend respect, she than kicked out a beam that cause a wall to fall and cover the body. Climbed back out she turned to Cassie.

"It was empty, just fallen books." She lied.

Kaldur was on his knees staring at the mountain; he didn't cry he hadn't never really cried, living most of your life underwater made that almost impossible. He heard a jet engine and turned to see the Batplane touchdown; the walkway extended and out came Batman and Robin. Kaldur stared at the two, but Robin stared past him walking towards the mountain, he looked as if he was looking at something distant, not the mountain but something past it.

Robin walked towards it and then let out a shout sounding almost like a primal scream he fell to the ground hitting it with his hands, Batman and Kaldur did not interfere letting him express his anger and sadness.

Meghan stared in horror at Conner, who just looked at her confused. They descended to the ground. Meghan didn't know what to say, her lips betraying her mind, she just stood dumbfounded. Conner felt impatient but he could see the girl was hurt and so he didn't rush her. While he waited he heard something faint, someone in the distance screaming. He grabbed the girl and flew at a wall. Her confusion was interrupted by the sudden movement, and she shouted as he was about to hit the wall. Suddenly he blasted it with his new found power. Carving a hole as he flew, eventually bursting out into the fresh air. Robin couldn't believe his eyes, at first he thought it must be Cassie until he recognized the form of Connor flying towards them carrying Meghan. He landed and looked at them; everyone looked stunned except for Batman who stood in the background. Conner quickly broke the silence.

"She needs help." He lay her on the ground gently. "I'll look for more survivors."

Before any objection could be raised he took off into the air and flew towards the mountain. Robin and Kaldur ran to Meghan wrapping her in a group hug, the sound of ambulance sirens rang in the distance.

Cassie and Artemis had almost reached the main hall, the closer they got the worse the destruction was, they hadn't seen any sign of the team, aside from Artemis's secret discovery of Zatanna. They were passing the team bedrooms when Cassie saw the motionless body of Wally sprawled on the ground, Cassie reached out to grab Artemis, but she had already seen him and rushed towards him, she kneeled besides his body.

"No, not you too." She sobbed resting her head against his chest. She felt the movement of his chest rising and falling and sat up, she felt his pulse weak but alive. She almost laughed with joy before she felt the blood covering her hands. Cassie stood a few feet away waiting for Artemis to finish. Quickly Artemis commanded Cassie to give her some cloth, Cassie flew over to the bed ripped off some cloth and handed it to Artemis who quickly wrapped his head up to stop the flow of blood.

"Let me carry him?" Cassie asked, trying to get Artemis to let her carry Wally's unconscious body, Artemis was exhausted the Adrenalin had begun to wear off and she could barely stand. But Artemis refused to let go of him. As they walked the roof in front of them collapsed leaving a gaping hole above it, and Conner dropped in. Artemis and Cassie were both surprise by his ability to fly, but happy that he was here.

"Need help?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Worry about them." Cassie said. Conner turned to face Artemis and Wally; he picked them both up against Artemis's objections and flew through the hole he had created in the roof. Cassie followed close behind them.

Outside the mountain, emergency services had arrived. Meghan had already been taken to the nearby hospital. Robin and Kaldur waited with Batman not leaving until the entire team had been found, they saw the figure of Conner carrying something followed closely by Cassie. They both landed, and Connor slowly placed Artemis down, medical services rushed about to take everyone to the hospital.

The Next Day

"What is the news Doctor?" Kaldur asked as he and Robin stood outside of Wally's room.

"He has suffered extensive head injuries and lost massive amounts of blood, but his body had been healing his exterior injuries at an astounding rate. Unfortunately he had cranial swelling and we had to operate. He is in a comatose state and we don't know if it is permanent." The doctor replied. He had already told Wally's parents who were currently sitting with their son.

"You are free to see him." The doctor finished and then left to attend another patient. Robin and Kaldur stood at the door to the room and watched as Wally's father tried to comfort his wife who had broken down. They decided to leave and let them to have some time alone with Wally.

Batman scanned the results of the CAT scan of Conner; the scan showed that there was nothing physically wrong with him. According to Black Canary he might have suffered an emotional break, which had resulted in his mind blocking out his memories to protect himself. She had insisted that they give him time to recover his memory naturally, and had volunteered herself to council the team. Batman had agreed. But something else was bothering him, according to his digital reconstruction of the explosion, the bomb had been brought into the base via the Zeta Tubes, but only a league member could use them, and he had spent countless million making sure that the only way to reprogram them would have to be from the computer on the Watch Tower. He had been running scans of the system but who ever had infiltrated the base had also wiped his comings and goings from the system. Batman was running a new computer program WayneCorp had developed that would retrieve any deleted information no matter how well the job had been done, but it would take a few days to complete. In the meantime he had decided to inform the team once they had calmed down from the ordeal.

Two days later.

"How are they?" Batman asked Black Canary.

"They are in shock locking themselves down, I was hoping this event would pull them closer but rather they are isolating themselves. Hopefully after the shock wears off they will come together as a team." Black Canary answered, she had spent an hour talking to each one but they were reserved. And she learnt more by studying them from a distance.

"I thought they would be stronger about this." Batman commented.

"Not everyone can deal with trauma like you Bruce. Some need time. They're just children." Black Canary defended the children.

"No, they aren't children, not anymore." Batman finished and left.

Robin looked around for a second, the entire Justice League were gathered around, as were the team with the exception of Connor and Wally, Connor had decided it would be wrong to attend the funeral of someone he couldn't remember. Meghan was crying, while Artemis looked sickly pale, Cassie hid her emotions well but Robin had heard her cry the night before. Kaldur stood solemnly to the side he was upset at not being with the team, questioning his leadership abilities. Nabu had agreed to release Zatarra for the mourning period on the condition that he wear the helmet afterwards, he was busy reading an extract from Zatarra diary.

"…I don't think I would have been able to cope with my father being gone if it wasn't for the team, we are a family and I am so glad I am able to be a part of it." Zatarra read. It took every ounce of Robin's training not to break down in the middle of the proceedings. Batman had been a good role model for hiding emotions.

After the service a line was formed and each member of the team went forward to give one gift, when it came to Robin's turn he took out an envelope containing a letter he had written almost a year ago. He had never given it to her, and now he wouldn't have another chance, he placed it on the casket and walked away.

A small distance from the service Batman was talking privately to Kaldur.

"Now is not the best time, but there is something you and your team need to know." Batman spoke. "I believe that there might be a traitor in the League, someone used the League transporter to plant the explosive, whether it was a league member or not, only someone with access to the Watchtower would be able to reprogram the transporter and delete the travel logs."

"Are you certain of this?" Kaldur asked, astonished that Batman would actually believe that a league member could be an enemy.

"Yes I am." Batman replied firmly. "Someone in the league is a traitor


End file.
